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Quarterback Freeman leads high-scoring Abilene Cooper football team

Going into the season, everyone knew the Cooper football team had two dangerous weapons in receiver Myller Royals and running back Tyrees Whitfield. The big question was, could first-year starting quarterback Ender Freeman get the job done as the team's trigger man?

Going into the season, everyone knew the Cooper football team had two dangerous weapons in receiver Myller Royals and running back Tyrees Whitfield. The big question was, could first-year starting quarterback Ender Freeman get the job done as the team's trigger man?

It turns out that answer is a resounding yes.

Freeman leads the most explosive offense in Cooper history. The Cougars (8-3) have scored 556 points — 18 more than the previous record of 538 in 13 games in 2013. The Coogs also need 316 more passing yards to tie the school record (3,247 yards in 14 games in 2000) and 759 total yards to tie the school record (6,199 yards in 13 games in 2013).

Freeman, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior, has completed 193 of 286 passes for 2,843 yards and 27 touchdowns. It’s the sixth-most passing yards in Cooper history — just 333 yards shy of Zac Stewart’s single-season record of 3,176 in 2006. He needs 10 more TD passes to the tie Jordan Neal’s single-season record of 37 set in 2000. Freeman also is in sight of the single-season records for completions (233, Neal in 2000) and attempts (401, Stewart in 2006).

Johnathan Haddock, Cooper’s quarterback coach, called the offense when Freeman was a quarterback on the junior varsity three years ago, and now they’re working together on the varsity.

“I think even going back to when he was a sophomore when I first got here, we all knew Ender was going to be a special football player,” Haddock said. “He just has that 'it' factor. He’s just able to go out there and play.”

Freeman had to bide this time as the No. 2 guy behind Austin Smith last season. Freeman (30-44-3—464, 5 TDs) got some playing team last year, while Smith (371-610-22—5,035, 40 TDs) finished his two-year career as the Coogs’ second-leading passer all-time.

While there was no animosity between the Freeman and Smith, who also played baseball together, it was a tough situation for Freeman.

“Ender is one of those kids who was in an interesting situation last year,” Haddock said. “He would have started last year at a lot of high schools, even in our district, but didn’t because somebody else was in front of him.”

Well, at least it’s been worth the wait. Freeman is part of a record-breaking Cooper team that hopes to reach the state title game for only the third time in program history (1967, 1996) and win the Coogs’ first state title.

“That’s our goal, to go all the way,” Freeman said. “I think we can do it with the athletes we have and work ethic they put in.”

The next step in that goal is a Region I-5A Division II area-round playoff game against El Paso Eastlake (9-2) at 6 p.m. Friday in Fort Stockton.

But the Coogs might never have gotten this far without the Freeman's growth at quarterback.

“He’s grown a lot,” Haddock said. “He’s made leaps and bounds. As we’ve progressed through the year, we’ve seen a lot of defenses come out and do something completely different than what they’ve done all year. That’s a credit to him and the guys we have on offense.

“They’re trying to take away Myller or whatever, and Ender has been able to adapt to that during the game. He’s only thrown four interceptions, and he’s completing almost 70 percent of his passes. I would say just the mental aspect of it, he’s improved.”

For his part, Freeman said he’s grown as a leader.

“Maybe at the beginning of the season, if we didn’t have a good practice, I was more timid to encourage them," Freeman said. "Now, when we get up there and talk to those guys after practice, it’s like, ‘Listen, guys, we’ve got to step it up. We know what the speed needs to be as a team. We know what the work ethic needs to be at to be at the level we need to be at and to win gold balls.’

“I think the trust level for me has gone up with my team. I think I’ve grown up in that aspect of a leader and being vocal with them and expressing what needs to get done and what needs to happen.”

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Cooper High School quarterback Ender Freeman hands-off to running back Tyrees Whitfield during Friday's crosstown showdown game against Abilene High School Sept. 15, 2017. Cooper won, 49-35.(Photo: Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News)

It helps that he has Royals, a 6-4 senior capable of making a circus catch look routine, and Whitfield, one of the program’s all-time great running backs, around him.

“Those things definitely help him out a lot,” Haddock said. “It’s easy to hand the ball to Tyrees or throw the ball to No. 1, but we’ve got a lot of other weapons as well.”

That they do. Shaun Watson (44 catches, 664 yards, 6 TDs) an Daelin Campos (36-556, 6 TDs) are both dangerous receivers, while reserve running backs Maurice Johnson and Ke’Shawn Brown are both capable of scoring any time they touch the ball.

Royals, Cooper’s all-time leader in receptions (164) and receiving yards (2,612) needs just one more TD catch to reach 24 and became the program’s all-time leader in that category. It would be easy for Freeman to lean on Royals more than others, but he’s done a good job of spreading the ball around.

“It’s easy to throw it over there to No. 1,” Haddock said. “That’s never a bad decision. We talk about that sometimes. He does a good job of reading the defense. He facilitates getting the ball to our receivers’ hands, and whoever that is, whoever’s open, that’s what he’s going to do.”

Engineering one of the most prolific offenses in Cooper history is no easy chore, either.

“We put a lot on his plate,” Haddock said. “He does more for us at the line of scrimmage and things like that than any quarterback we’ve ever had here since I’ve been here and anywhere else I’ve coached quarterbacks before. So he does a lot of stuff for us. He tells the offensive line what to do and gets people lined up in the right spots. Our offense is able to go because of what he’s able to do mentally.”

And go it does, much to the delight of Freeman.

“It’s awesome,” Freeman said. “It’s so much fun. Fridays are the most fun for me. Those guys on the offensive line, they’re hilarious and they work hard, too. It’s really exciting for me to watch those guys make plays. Every Friday, I never know what Tyrees is going to do with the ball, but it’s going to be something great. Or Myller, going up to make a catch. It’s really exciting.”

It has been an exciting season for the Coogs, and it all begins with Freeman.

“I think Ender’s having a tremendous year,” Cooper coach Todd Moebes said. “I’m proud of him. I don’t think it’s a shock to anybody in this fieldhouse. We knew what he was capable of doing. We saw sparks of it last year when he got his opportunities to get in. He’s a true competitor, a great leader. He understands the game of football, understands what we’re trying to accomplish offensively. We trust him fully.”

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Cooper High School offensive players Braiden Hill, Ender Freeman, and Ke'Shawn Brown watch for signals from the coaching staff before their next play against Frenship High School Friday Sept. 22, 2017. Cooper won, 62-3.(Photo: Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News)